Mayor to serve another three terms

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, May 24, 2004

Tomball voters re-elected H.G. "Hap" Harrington as their mayor and put an insurance broker into a vacant council seat May 15.

Eleven percent of Tomball's 5,371 voter population cast ballots in the city election. Officials claim there was an increase in voter turn out this year.

"It was a pretty good turn out," said City Secretary Doris Speer. "Between 7 and 8 percent is the norm."

The City Council officially canvassed election returns May 24.

Seventy-five percent of the ballots cast in the Saturday election for mayor went to Harrington. The win marks the start of Harrington's fifth three-year term in office.

He faced former Tomball mayor Bill Webb in the election. Webb had served one term in office. Webb received 162 votes to Harrington's 435.

It was the second time the two men have squared off in the election polls. Harrington won his initial term in the mayor's post from Webb 12 years ago.

Position 3 on the Council will now be manned by Gretchen Cox. The seat was left open early on in the election when incumbent Diane Holland, a long-time city activist, withdrew from the race in order to take a new job at Tomball College.

Derek S. Townsend Sr. challenged Cox for the seat. The Council position race was a little tighter than the one for the mayor's office. Cox won the position with 387 votes. Townsend received a total of 205 votes.

Cox's challenger ran an unsuccessful campaign to take a Council position away from Homer Ford last year. According to Harrington, Cox received roughly 65 percent of the votes cast in the Council election. He said that is a pretty good result for someone who has come in new to the city's government.

Harrington and Cox ran joint campaign political advertisements. The mayor said Cox possesses a "young, new face" that he is glad to have on the Council.

"She is a young, bright business lady here in Tomball," he said. "I had a long visit with her before the election and we got to know each other. I think she will make a fine council person."

Cox will attend her first meeting as Position 3's representative June 7, a few days after getting married in the Bahamas. She is set to marry her fiance, Michael Fagan, June 3.

She said the election and her time spent planning her wedding have made this a very busy time for her. She said her son, 12-year-old Travis Roden, her husband-to-be, and his daughter, Page Fagan, participated in her campaign.

"The kids passed out flyers, posted campaign signs and went with me door-to-door. All the things kids just love to do," Cox joked.

The two election winners celebrated their victories together after the polls closed May 15.

Harrington threw an election party for family, friends, campaign staff and neighbors at his house. He later went to another party hosted by Cox's campaign staff.

"I had told Gretchen that I would attend my party first because my people will be older than hers," said the 68-year-old Harrington, who described both venues as festive. "There was a lot of hollering."

Harrington said he believes he won the election because he didn't "down-play" his opponent on the campaign trail.

"Read all of my campaign material," he said. "I didn't say anything bad about him. I ran on my merits and accomplishments. I simply asked voters to compare my 12 years in office to his two years in office."

Harrington would not comment on whether or not this will be his final term in the mayor's office. He would only say that he has not made that decision.

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"I don't have a hidden agenda other than I want to help Tomball," he said. "I do this because I want to see this town continue to be a good town to live in, the type where citizens can turn to us for help."